New App Beitify Gathers Egypt's Best Furniture Under One Virtual Roof

In a country like Egypt where taste is as varied as a bad bag of Skittles, finding the right furniture and home accessories can be quite the daunting task. First you have to find a shop that doesn't turn your stomach, then one that doesn't break your bank account. And when you do (or if you do, rather), you have to deal with over-zealous sales folk; a species of human who've evolved to maximise pain and suffering. 

A new app is here to help simplify and ease some of the suffering: Beitify, created and operated by Shehab ElNoury, Majid Hassan, and Ahmad Aboshady. The app is aimed at finding quality home decoration options, all under one virtual roof. It works by acting as a database of selected furnishing outlets with products including carpets, fabrics, lamps, tables, and beds, to name a few. The app shows users a store’s full catalogue, their nearest branch, and whether the store has any current offers customers can benefit from, including offers exclusive to Beitify users.

A catalyst for creating the app was frustration at all the logistics involved when it comes to decorating or renovating in Egypt. Beitify's co-founder Ahmad Aboshady noticed, “[it's a] daily routine to see people struggling to figure out what they want, while not having a chance to explore the vast possibilities they can achieve for the same budget.” And man do we know how that feels.

Before Beitify, however, there was Appduction; Shehab ElNoury and Majid Hassan’s mobile development company founded in 2015, where Beitify was first born before they decided to make it its own thing. ElNoury tells us that’s where Ahmad Aboshady, the 3rd co-founder, comes in, bringing with him years of experience teaching interior and product design, as well as experience with global and Egyptian furnishing trends. 

Given their experience with app development and entrepreneurship, it’s a no-brainer that the team is supportive of fresh furnishing startups such as El Warshah for handmade crafts, who are included in the app which is currently available in beta with many familiar store names such as Williams, and Kitchens & Co. also included. And according to ElNoury, there is an intention to partner with many more popular brands, although understandably, doing so will take some time, in part due to a strict selection process. "A selected store has to have a good reputation in the market, commit to what they promise, and be honest with their customers,” ElNoury tells us. And that criteria isn’t as common as you’d think, adding that the team was “also very keen to help our users reach the stores that are capable of providing stellar quality products regardless of their size or how big their brand is.”

Partnering doesn’t just mean including a store’s catalogue on the app, but also giving Beitify users exclusive discounts and notifications of store offers, according to ElNoury. And for an even more engaging user experience, Beitify also has tips, hacks and spotlights on articles featuring brands and artists relevant to them. Just recently, Beitify posted a blog post on what the kitchen means.

It’s worth noting that the site was created with the help of Unplugged, the Egyptian web development company founded by Mostafa ElKhouly and Essam Maged.

With that said, the Beitify creators intend “to keep expanding their partnerships so that there truly isn’t an item you can’t find on Beitify for your home” as well as add many more exclusive offers with popular stores. According to ElNoury, an online shop will be introduced in the near future, as well as a couple of other exciting features they would rather keep to themselves for now.

When we asked them about the possibility of a delivery option in the future, ElNoury said, “most definitely. In our mid-term plan, we intend to open a section for select items. We don’t think that people are ready to purchase large items online at the moment, but we believe this will change over the coming years.” And they’ll be right there when it does.

Be sure to check out Beitify’s Facebook page and download the app on the Google Play store and the App Store.

Photos: Beitify